West Virginia law allows for coal produced from processing material contained in refuse, gob piles, slurry ponds, pond fines or other sources of waste coal to be subject to the annual privilege tax imposed on the severance of coal.

The Legislature concluded that an incentive to extracting and recovering material contained in refuse, gob piles and other sources of waste coal located in this state and subsequently processing, washing and preparing this material to produce coal should be implemented to encourage the production of this coal from refuse or gob piles located in this state.

Monies in the waste coal-producing counties fund shall be distributed by the State Treasurer annually to the counties in which the refuse, gob piles or other sources of waste coal are located, from which taxable waste coal production has occurred during the year, in an amount prorated to the number of tons of taxable waste coal produced in each county during the preceding year. The distribution shall be paid separately from any other payment of monies to the county by the Treasurer. For purposes of this subdivision, the term 'ton' means two thousand pounds.